Mr. Burbank s New Quince.— The quince is not a popular fruit in Sonoma 
County s horticultural realm. A quince is a quince the world over, tart, hard and 
limited in usefulness. If one could pluck a quince from a tree and eat it as an apple, if 
it was of delightful flavor, soft and mellow as a Christmas apple, it would be grown 'on 
every hillside and in every valley. Such a fruit has been perfected and is destined to 
be cultivated extensively, not only within the confines of our county, but wherever fruit 
is grown in the temperate and sub-tropic zones. Our fellow townsman, Luther Burbank, 
gave this great discovery to the world. For many years he has labored with the end in 
view to produce a quince possessing all these excellent properties. Varieties from all over 
the world were obtained and grown. By cross-breeding and selections through many 
generations of experiment the goal was neared, but not until the present season was 
success attained. This year he produced in his Gold Ridge experiment grounds what he 
strived for through these many years, a quince that possessed the flavor of the best of 
its species, but which is mellow and soft as an apple and may be cooked in from three 
to five minutes. When this variety is introduced it promises to revolutionize quince 
culture." — Santa Rosa Republican. 
"Sample ' PINEAPPLE ' quince received, we did not make jelly out of it as what 
we received seemed hardly enough. We ate some from hand and tried some baked. The 
flavor was exquisite." — W. T. Smith & Co., Geneva, New York. 
" The fruit is too good for jelly making. It should be used to eat green, as an 
apple."- — S. W. Hoyt, Vacaville. 
PRICES. 
STRAIGHT, THRIFTY TREES, ONE YEAR OLD, TWO TO 
THREE FEET, EACH $i. SIX, $5. TEN, $8. 
STRONG, HEAVY CUTTINGS, 8 INCHES LONG, TEN FOR ?k 
CTS. PER HUNDRED, $6. PER THOUSAND, $40. 
A FEW VERY LARGE TWO-YEAR-OLD TREES EACH 
THESE ARE TOO LARGE TO SHIP LONG DISTANCES. 
STORY OF ONE POTATO SEED. 
From the San Francisco Call. 
A tiny seed may feed a nation! 
An atom of vegetable life may evolve results of universal benefit to mankind. 
Twenty-three years ago last May a New England youth living not far from Boston, 
in the " Old Bay State," held in his hand a single seed about half as large as an ordinary 
pinhead. It would have taken several hundred of similar size to make a meal for a canary. 
To the ordinary observer the seed would have seemed to differ in no respect from 
others of its kind, but the youth, who scrutinized it through the eye of genius, thought he 
had good reasons for believing that it deserved a better fate than to be fed to the birds, 
and it was therefore carefully planted and tenderly watched all through that New England 
summer of 1874— and millions of his fellow men have the benefits wrought by the prescience 
of a youthful enthusiast then on the threshold of renown in his chosen field of science. 
When the hazy Indian summer came the plant had done its work, and three and 
one-fourth pounds of the most beautiful white potatoes which had ever been seen were 
the product of the little seed. 
The tubers were planted and replanted, and when the second season had passed two 
tons was the crop which a prominent Eastern seedsman purchased and introduced to the 
public in the spring of 1876. 
The new potato was such an evident improvement upon any tuber of its kind ever 
known theretofore that it immediately sprang into favor in all parts of America, and it 
was not long ere its superior qualities became known in all other countries where the 
potato is grown. 
Such is the genesis of the Burbank potato — named in honor of its originator, Luther 
Burbank, of Santa Rosa. 
The young New Englander who made this fortunate experiment so many years ago 
has since become famous among the world's savants in the same line of scientific experi- 
ment. Many times has he thrilled the scientists of the vegetable world by the announce- 
ment of a new and distinct species — the creation of such being the principal aim of his 
professional life — and rich have been the honors showered upon him by his fellow scien- 
tists and the world at large for his brilliant achievements in the propagation of new fruits, 
flowers and vegetables, but it is safe to say that no product of his genius has wrought so 
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